Our Story

We always thought there was a bit of magic involved in our chance meeting in 1998. A mutual friend almost introduced us 8 months earlier, but fate left us to find each other in our own time. We soon realized we had each found our adventurous soul mate. Our mutual interests in cruising, our love of the sea, and our love of travel, gave us a bond from the onset.  We spent or first few years together cruising most of the year in Mexico but spent the summers leading our Food and Wine Tours in France, Italy, and Mexico.

In late September 2001 we came to New Zealand to research a new venue for our Food and Wine Tours.  We found we had stepped into a magical land.  Imagine our surprise when we learned there were over 480 boutique wineries, all competing and challenging each other to new heights. Completing the picture, these magnificent wines were driving the culinary craft to discover new ways of presenting and using the local ingredients. We discovered “foodie” heaven: New Zealand was becoming the culinary crown of the Southern Hemisphere. Chefs were taking the extraordinary meat and produce of New Zealand’s farmers, adding a touch of Oriental flair and European cooking methods, thus creating an original style of cooking that we recognize as New Zealand cuisine.

We fell in love with the land, the lifestyle, the people, their attitude and the possibility of living in New Zealand.  We discovered that Nelson was the perfect place for us to live. Nelson was not a large city with big city crime problems, but was large enough to have a lot of cultural events. The School of Music, the World of Wearable Arts, The Theatre Royale, The Sutter Art Gallery, and the numerous sculptors, painters and potters made for a lively and interesting cultural scene. The Nelson Saturday Market with local produce, crafts and art reminded us of the Provencal markets of Southern France.

Local supplies of goat cheese, olive oil, and artisan style breads were abundant and made it easy for Kay to cook her favorite European dishes. Lovely local wines and great restaurants were abundant in the area and attracted both international and Kiwi visitors. Nelson boasts the greatest hours of sunshine in New Zealand, which made both hiking and beach going a year-round possibility and our love of gardening, could flourish.

 
Joe is a member of the Rotary Club of Nelson, a continuation of his quarter century of Rotary involvement. You could join him on Thursdays (6pm) at the Boat House for Nelson style comraderie, or any one of the 7 rotary clubs in the Nelson Region. Kay started the first Red Hat Society group on the South Island. As Queen Mum of the “Nelson’s Saucy Sisters”, she invites any visiting Red Hatter to join in the local fun, events, or meetings.

We love sharing the magic of New Zealand and especially Nelson with our B and B guests.
Because most of our guests spend more than one night at our B and B we have the opportunity to get to know them and introduce them to the warm and wonderful lifestyle of Nelson, and share with them the culinary uniqueness of New Zealand.

Contact Us

Kay Pastorius Waller & Joe Waller
15 Seawatch Way, Atawhai, Nelson, 7010
Phone: 03 545 1886
Freephone: 0800 89 1886
Fax: 03 545 1869

Email: stay@a-culinary-experience.com
Web: www.a-culinary-experience.com